In my opinion the full length album format is a thing of the past. At least in the truest, purest sense of what the long-playing 33 1/3 format represented as an artistic format in it's heyday (which I would estimate to be from 1964ish-1989ish). Sure-artists still put out full albums of material, but not with the same cohesive mindset and flow in mind. And with the single song download, consumers rarely listen to whole albums. I once read that for Tapestry (Carole King), they spent two weeks plotting the order the songs would go in (after recording was complete). That sort of intentional artistic endeavor is long gone.
I'm among the casualties today as much as anybody else I suppose, as much as I might hate to admit it (fancying myself a purest and all). I can probably count the number of times I've listened to an album in order from start to finish in the last 10 years on one hand (sadly, perhaps). One thing that made it very cumbersome and kept you from jumping around on song order was the needle. It was too hard to drop the needle in the right spot, and just easier to let it play until the side was done! And casette tapes! Even harder to find the beginning of the song, constantly rewinding or fast-forwarding to try and land in the right place.
Think back to the double sided vinyl LP format and how a typical really great album might be laid out (not thinking of compilations or greatest hits collections here).
Side 1 (or A) typically opened with the strongest track or first single released from the album. Side 1 closed with a strong tune maybe a third single-but definitely strong. Side 2 opened with the second single from the album or maybe a brilliant album track that was never released as a single. And side 2 closed with a definite sense of closure, some kind of sense of finality.
And the really great albums had strong material in deep cuts
of each side with nary a weak spot to be found. They would never wear thin from overplay on the radio, and they would really separate the fans from the poseurs.
And then you had the sleeve artwork. This is the stuff of legend. Sgt Pepper, Led Zeppelin IV, Abbey Road, Unknown Pleasures, Sticky Fingers had iconic images that have become part of the fabric of culture. Sometimes you got glossy inner dust sleeves that had additional photos of the artist, and/or lyric sheets (this is pre-google, kids). And sometimes you got a plain ole white paper dust sleeve. In my iTunes library, I take great pains to ensure that I have the correct artwork assigned. That goes for albums and singles. Thank God for the internet to make tracking those images down so easy.
Record shopping was such a fantastic pastime. Collecting these treasures and not always knowing what you were going to get when you got them home and put them on the turntable was half the excitement. And not being able to play them until you got home [having to sit on them for the ride home] added to the excitement.
Towards the end of high school when my parents were separated, my Dad and I would go record shopping sometimes together. We certainly didn't see eye to eye in musical taste but to be fair-there was some overlap. But we did agree that music was a good thing and that was good enough. And it made for some really great memories.
I remember flipping through the bins in the shops in Portland, Oregon. Spending the day Saturday driving into town and making the rounds through all of the cool shops (Second Avenue, Django's, Dudley's, The Ooze, etc...) looking at all the imports with their exotic cellophane sleeves (as opposed to the shrink wrapped plastic on domestic LPs) over top of the outside jacket. They often times had slightly or entirely different artwork, or the Japanese imports had Japanese characters on them, additional tracks or different running order than the domestic counterparts.
It was a piece of cultural history that I consider myself very fortunate to have experienced. I just don't see how one can be as deeply invested in music without having experienced it in that way.
So, here we go...again, not in any particular order.
Artist: The Smiths
Album Title: Meat is Murder
Producer: The Smiths
Year: 1985
Time: 39:46
Weak Spot: (title track) Meat Is Murder
The cover was cool; slighly grittier than other things I was listening to at the time. It seemed really bohemian and high brow. The Vietnam War soldier image four times (Andy Warhol-ish), no picture of the band.
I can still remember the first time I heard the stuttering intro of The Headmaster Ritual
. It sounded very unusual, and like nothing I'd really heard before. Later I would learn that a lot of that came from Johnny Marr's unusual tunings and amazing guitar orchestration. At the time, a guitar driven non mainstream band (that wasn't Metal or Punk) )was pretty unusual. Not many of them at the time.
I loved Morrisey straight away. He could put words or phrases like "tremulous", "loutish", "Caligula" or "mammory glands" and talk about Keats, Yates or Oscar Wilde into pop songs and sound effortless doing it. Who else can do anything close to that? The desperation, loneliness and yearning combined with the sharp wit and humor appealed to me straight away. Nobody can dish out the one liners like the Mozzer can.
And though I walk home alone
I might walk home alone...
...But my faith in love is still devout
~Rusholme Ruffians
People always call the Smiths depressing
. They certainly aren't the Village People, but I never really thought of them as depressing. I always felt like they were thought provoking and gave me the sensation more of a sigh than a cry.
The US release of the album contained How Soon Is Now?
, which was a UK B-side to the William, It Was Really Nothing
single. It absolutely blew my mind! It did then and does now sometimes still. It is a song for the ages.
This album represents uncertainty and comfort in the notion that other people feel sad and alone too. And it frames it up in a way that is both poignant and funny that really appealled to me. I took to this album right off. It immediately went into heavy rotation.
The only weak spot on the album is the title track. I've never been particularly fond of it.
Much is said about The Queen Is Dead, which is without doubt an excellent album. But I prefer the slightly more esoteric Meat Is Murder. The best analogy I've heard is Meat is Murder is to The Queen Is Dead what Revolver is to Sqt Pepper.
Artist: Kool & The Gang
Album Title: The Best of Kool & the Gang 1969-1976
Producer: Various
Year: 1993
Time: 74:10
Weak Spot: --:--
Normally, I'm not much of a fan of compilation albums. This one is pretty exceptional, it's an excellent entry point into the world of 1970s Funk/Soul/R&B, and at over 74 minutes-there's plenty of bang for your buck.
I first heard Jungle Boogie
on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack. I immediately wanted me some more of that! I rushed out and bought this CD, and proceeded to play the crap out of it for the next few months.
And over the next few months, bought every album (CD< technically) that Kool & The Gang had released between 1969 and 1976. I was a believer. I also sought out many other albums in the Funk genre by artists like Earth, Wind & Fire, The Ohio Players, Marvin Gaye, Sly Stone, The Commodores...and the list goes on.
I love the wild abandon of the funkier stuff like Funky Stuff
, Spirit of the Boogie
or Pneumonia
as well as the smooth jazzy funk of Summer Madness
. Horn sections, flute solos, real hand claps, funky-ass rhythm guitar, real drums, killer-funky drum fills, ad-libbed grunting vocals...Great stuff. The musicianship here is really incredible. One of the most incredible things to imagine is a band of 6/7/8 people all playing real instruments, writing pretty complex songs! It'a a by-gone era. It's a shame that black music went from this to what it is today.
This album is a Funk paradise, as well as a sampling paradise. Difficult to feel down when Kool & The Gang is on.
Artist: The Rolling Stones
Album Title: Sticky Fingers
Producer: Jimmy Miller
Year: 1971
Time: 46:25
Weak Spot: I Got The Blues
From the opening chords of Brown Sugar
all the way through MoonlightMile
, this album is non stop raunchy, depraved, hook laden,Rock n Roll bravado. There are so many drug references on this album that are not even slightly veiled-right there in plain English. The legendary cover lays the albums intentions out plainly for all to see.
There are not many opening guitar riffs that are as identifiable and/or iconic as Brown Sugar
. Keith Richards and his Fender Telecaster at full pelt.
What I love so much about this album versus other Stones albums is the quality and catchiness of the deep cuts. Brown Sugar
and Wild Horses
as the two (US) singles of the album are excellent, for certain. But, for me the album's high points are Bitch
and Moonlight Mile
. Bitch
has it all for me. The tempo moves along briskly, the lyrics are ridiculous and awesome simulataneously, it features a tuba/marching band brass section and Mick's vocal performance is perfect. Whenever I hear this tune, I always imagine a stick thin Mick coked off his face strutting around the stage wearing a scarf, clapping his hands with his lips pursed-especially where he sings Alright
. That is so badass!
Moonlight Mile
is the other end of the rock excess spectrum. It's a very underrated Stones' tune. It's the type of melancholy, reflective tune that I gobble up. After a long night or days of partying, Moonlight Mile
is a good come-down song. Mick Jagger plays the acoustic guitar riff on this track, and was apparently worked out in all night session with Jagger and Mick Taylor.Just a great, great song that always sounds good.
The other honorable mentions are Sister Morphine
(a chilling song about morphine withdrawals and addiction), Sway
, Dead Flowers
and Can't You Hear Me Knocking
(with it's Sanatana-esque breakdown in the second half).
It's just a classic, highly influential album of the highest order by one of the best bands ever at the peak of their powers.
Artist: Joy Division
Album Title: Closer
Producer: Martin Hannet
Year: 1980
Time: 44:16
Weak Spot:The Eternal
If I'm stuck on a desert island, I'm bound to have moments of hopelessness and Closer is about as good as it gets for a soundtrack for hopelessness!
This was my introduction to the mighty JD. My senior year of high school, I bought the imported LP (vinyl) around christmas time. Factory sure knew a thing or two about how to present an album. Their albums alwayslooked great. Like you were not only buying an album, but a piece of art. This piece of the music experience, sadly has become one of the casualties of the digital revolution.
This album is not necessarily an easy listen. The subject matter-Ian Curtis's downward spiral just prior to his suicide is not for the faint of heart. It is very heavy, dense and can feel claustrophobic.
I love intensity. At it's best, I like music to feel like it is bearing down on me, it's weight inescapable.
Here are the young men,
The weight on their shoulders
Here are the young men,
Well where have they been?
We knocked on the doors of Hell's darker chamber,
Pushed to the limit, we dragged ourselves in,
Watched from the wings as the scenes were replaying,
We saw ourselves now as we never had seen.
Portrayal of the trauma and degeneration,
The sorrows we suffered and never were free...
~Decades
The opening track Atrocity Exhibition
sets the tone for the album. The lyrics are a riveting dystopian story of bloodsport and violence. The only ray of sun on the whole album is the backing track for Isolation
. It sounds like a fluffy synth-pop tune, but don't be fooled-the lyrics are as dark as they come.
The dark content/light musical backdrop has been laid for what would be one of New Order's trademarks.
Passover
is sparse and brooding. Colony
is a perrenial JD favorite of mine. The stutter/stop drumming, fat/chugging bass and biting guitar confirm Stephen Morris, Peter Hook and Bernard Sumner's status as the architects of post-punk music.
A Means To An End
with Ian's repeating refrain of I Put My Trust In You
is a tale of what I can only assume is betrayal. Opening side two is Heart And Soul
. I always thought this track reminded me of The Doors. Just in overall feel, I guess. There really is no noticable similarity.
Twenty Four Hours
is a track that I consider to be a signature JD song. I recently saw a video on YouTube of Peter Hook showing how to play this song. He gets that unique bass song by playing his melody on one string and letting the next string ring out open. He also does this on Love Will Tear Us Apart
. It's something so simple and so brilliant that I think only somebody who is totally untrained can come up with by being unencumbered by music rules and theory. The Eternal
is so bleak it's a tough listen for me sometimes. Decades
with it's steely, electronic drum sound and icy keyboard riff is pretty mind-blowing. And the lyrics!
VERY heavy duty stuff, and not at all for the passive listener.
Of course-no discussion about JD is complete without talking about Martin Hannet's contributions as producer extrordanaire. The studio recordings of Closer
are so superior to any live versions of the songs due to Hannet's vision of the material. It's simply an epic album. One that is the blue-print for post punk music. Here Are The Young Men...
this material is so H-E-A-V-Y for guys who are in their early 20s.
Artist: Adam & The Ants
Album Title: Dirk Wears White Sox
Producer: Adam Ant, Chris Hughes
Year: 1979
Time: 40:39
Weak Spot:Catholic Day
I have a tremendous soft spot for Adam Ant. I think he is one of the most underated preformers/songwriters and artists to come out of the punk movement. In the US, his legacy has unfortunately been relegated to one hit wonder status. I think in the UK his place in history is a little more suited to his artistic contributions.
AA's sound is so unique! There has never been anybody doing what he's done-especially in the '79-'82 period. He was extremely prolific and visionery. His material from this periodic is instantly identifiable. There is no mistaking it for anybody else.
The reason I chose this album over Kings Of The Wild Frontier
or Prince Charming
can be explained in one word: Esoteric. It's kooky as hell. But it's also loaded with great songs. And I think it's incredibly ambituous for a first album and for a post punk album in 1979. And I think in a lot of ways, it's some of the most ambituous and best songwriting of his career. It also has really great guitar, bass and drum sound, as well as the playing and musicianship on the album.
I discovered Dirk
in Spring of '83 when Epic was trying to capitalize on the recent popularity of Goody Two Shoes
by re-releasing it in the US for the first time and had a different runnign order than most of the versions you find today and certainly the version here on Spotify.
Nine Plan Failed
was the first song that jumped out at me. I loved the line ...Now he wears big spectacles, and he sings like Buddy Holly-Nine Plan Failed!
and how he sang it with such a pronounced British accent.
Xerox
has one of the best opening guitar riffs EVER. A great power punk/pop song. Tabletalk
is one of the best tracks on the album. It's a strange mixture of I'm not exactly sure what-but the end result is absolutely dreamy in the strangest of ways.
Kick - Single Version
is the most obvious indicator of where he was heading next with the (what I assume is) two drummer intro and the Oi-ee-yoy-ee yo....Oi-ee-yoy-ee-yo
refrain.
The lyrical content is really out there. I have no idea what most of the songs are about, but it's still fun to go along for the ride and listen to the stories.
Artist: The Beatles
Album Title: Revolver
Producer: George Martin
Year: 1966
Time: 34:43
Weak Spot: Yellow Submarine
I first REALLY got into this album during a springtime. In my city of Portland Oregon we get these amazing days in March and April where the sun is out and the world has come back to life after the winter and everything feels GREAT. And that's what frame of mind I go into when I hear Revolver.
Revolver is chocked full of perfectly crafted pop songs with just a pinch of psychedelia thrown in for a timeless listening experience
This was also about the time when I really began to appreciate Paul McCartney as a songwriting genius. Of course-I always knew he was special, this was when I began to idolize him. Not necessarily only for his songs on Revolver, I was in a big Beatles phase at the time.
But John Lennon has some really great songs on this album (they are Lennon/McCartney songs...I know. But John sings lead). I'm Only Sleeping
,She Said She Said
,And Your Bird Can Sing
and Tomorrow Never Knows
are deep cut classics. I'm Only Sleeping
would make my Beatles top 5 (if I had one) easily I think. I love that song. And Your Bird Can Sing
has such a great lead guitar riff. My friend and I at the time would drive around singing along to this and I always loved the singing and the harmonies on the line But you can't hear me, you can't hear...ME!
And lest we not forget George Harrison. One of my favorite GH songs I Want To Tell You
is found on Revolver. That little discordant piano bit during the I don't mind, I could wait forever, I've got time
section is brilliant! It might be the first time I really took note of something being dissonant and perfect at the same time.
Great album! Everybody who loves music should be required to hear this album at least once.
Artist: Siouxsie And The Banshees
Album Title: Nocturne
Producer: Mike Hedges
Year:1983
Time: 76:47
Weak Spot: Dear Prudence
In most cases, I prefer studio tracks to their live counterparts. But in a few instances such as with Nocturne or with the Cult's Dreamtime Live at the Lyceum where I heard the majority of the tracks in their live incarnation prior to the studio version, they became the standard. I'd say this is also a pretty good entry point into The Banshees' classic era catalogue. There is still some brilliance in their future on Hyeana and Tinderbox, but for the most part they have peaked as a whole by the time of Nocturne
Hearing this album or any track from it always takes me back to Spring of 1986 and cruising around Newberg, Oregon in my VW Bug after school when it was in heavy rotation. It was a good time.
Having Robert Smith on guitar is pretty bad-ass, you have to admit. The first Goth super group! He does pretty well covering John McGeoch's material-and he's no slouch.
The high points of the album are Great album, with barely a weak spot (I noted Israel
-I really prefer the live version over the studio version. Nightshift
; this is an excellent track-one of my favorite in the entire Banshees' catalogue. Budgie's heartbeat-esque bass drum is just killer and adds the perfect sense of foreboding. Sin In My Heart; another menacing track (no shortage of those in the Banshees' canon). Breaking glass sound effects, and rising tempo make this sound manic as well as scary. The live version of
Slowdive
is so superior to the studio version-I was really disappointed when I heard it! Live it captures a seductive quality and it has a groove of sorts. Happy House
is totally fast-n-loose. The tom drumming, slightly distorted arpeggio guitar and boucy, flanged bass and Siouxsie's vocals is everything that is great about post punk music. And finally Eve White/Eve Black
. Siouxsie's scream at 1:11 into the track, I reckon is one of the scariest things ever put to tape. I shudder to imagine how it sounded if you were in the audience along with the caterwauling wall of feedback and cymbals that were behind it.
Dear Prudence
, because there has to be a weak spot) to found, by one of the great bands out of the punk and post punk movement.
Artist: The Beach Boys
Album Title: Pet Sounds
Producer: Brian Wilson
Year: 1966
Time: 35:57
Weak Spot:- - -
Artist: Joy Division
Album Title: Unknown Pleasures
Producer: Martin Hannett
Year: 1979
Time: 39:24
Weak Spot:Candidate
This album is what some would call a hard listen
. And it might be for some. But compared to Closer
, UP sounds like The Bay City Rollers.
My introduction to this album was the vinyl LP. On it side A was called Outside
, side B was called Inside
, but there was no way to know which was side A or B. I had a 50/50 chance of getting it right, but I missed. I assumed that Inside
was side A and the album started with She's Lost Control
. So, I learned the album in the wrong order! I didn't learn the correct running order until I purchased the CD in the mid 90s.
It still made a huge impression on me and I fell in love with it immediately, it fit perfectly into my soundtrack for teen angst.
This album stands the test of time because I love the spacious atmospheric sound that Martin Hannett puts onto the songs. The opening of I Remember Nothing
is a perfect example. Eerie and chilling, you can practically feel the icy draft in the room. I love to be swept away by really overpowering, dense music.
She's Lost Control
is a classic. I do like the album version, but the best version is on the The Complete BBC Recordings (track 9, there are two versions of the song on that album).
Insight
is a song that was lost on me for a long while until I heard Peter Hook And The Light preform it. They brought out a really vulnerable side of the song I'd not noticed until then.
The quintessential Joy Division siren song would (or could) be New Dawn Fades
. Sad and gut-wrenching music. So much power and emotion in it. It's a perfect example of how far music can go with very little technical skill and lots of heart and ambition. It's not always about having talent, it's about guts.
A perfect way to experience this album I love is to listen to Shadowplay
at night (after dark) in the car. This song was made for driving around at night. Loud, of course!
Artist: The Smiths
Album Title: Hatful Of Hollow
Producer(s): John Porter, The Smiths, Roger Pusey, Dale "Buffin" Griffin
Year: 1984
Time: 56:11
Weak Spot:This Night Has Opened My Eyes
This makes the list over other Smiths' albums almost entirely from the cool factor. For starters, it's an import. Or at least was only available as an import at the time I was introduced to it (the summer of '85). Second, it's comprised largely of BBC 1 sessions and UK singles with their respective B-sides and lastly; the super cool cover (neck in neck with Meat Is Murderfor best Smiths album cover).
I prefer the grittier versions of What Difference Does It Make?
,These Things Take Time
, You've Got Everything Now
and Hand In Glove
found on HOH. I feel like these versions capture more of the edge and the essence of these songs and show The Smiths as the lean, hungry and well drilled group they were at this time. And with additional BBC 1 tracks like Handsome Devil
and Accept Yourself
; this album turns into a pretty impressive collection for a band who only released it's debut LP eight months prior.
As a kid growing up on the West Coast of the US, it was my first exposure to BBC recordings, John Peel, non LP singles, etc...The Brits had a slightly different way of doing things than the Yanks-and at least as far as anything related to music was concerned-I preferred their way.
Even before I heard the first notes, I fell in love with the cover. The black and white photo on the sky blue background was stark and retro cool; and was as great to look at as the album was to listen to.
Also of note-the version ofWhat Difference Does It Make?
found on HOH is in a higher key than the version on their debut album.
Artist: Talk Talk
Album Title: Laughing Stock
Producer: Time Friese-Greene
Year: 1991
Time: 43:29
Weak Spot:
Talk Talk's swan song Laughing Stock
is one of the most unique albums you can ever hear. I'm amazed when I think of their journey from their early MTV days to this great final album in just 5 albums and 9 years.
What I love is the spacious, roomy feeling here. And I can say with reasonable certainty that the vocals of Mark Hollis, make or break their sound. I think a lot of bands could do what Talk Talk is doing musically here. But it's the vocals that seal the deal for me. Mark Hollis is one of the most unique vocalists there ever has been. He walks a perfectly fine line without ever stepping into pretentiousness or self-indulgence and delivers dreamy, emotive, delicate, contemplative vocals overtop the freefrom jazz, minimalist classical and post punk grooves.
It also has beautiful cover art. This one would look so much better as a vinyl LP than a CD.
Artist: The Beatles
Album Title: The Beatles (aka The White Album
Producer: George Martin
Year: 1968
Time: 93:35
Weak Spot:Revolution 9
,Wild Honey Pie
Artist: The Psychedelic Furs
Album Title: Talk Talk Talk
Producer: Steve Lillywhite
Year: 1981
Time: 41:11
Weak Spot: No Weak Spot
This is a very under-rated album! All ten songs are great, post-punk gems.
Richard Butler's chain-smoking rasp of a voice isn't for everyone. I love it. Few bands are fortunate enough to have such a uniquely identifiable voice. It's instantly identifiable-there is no mistaking The Psychedelic Furs for anybody else.
I love their image; ray bans, sport coats with t-shirts, bed-head and snooty, cavalier attitude...so cool.
I bought this album in Autumn of 1985. Totally tasty guitar driven, catchy songs with a hint of angst...just what the doctor ordered.
Everybody knows Pretty In Pink
. The album version here is soooo much better than the version they remade for the movie in 1986. This one is just a little bit less polished and more gritty.
One thing I really dig about this early Furs stuff is their unusual use of the saxophone. It's so unique and adds such a great flavor to their music. Dumb Waiters
is a perfect example of this. The main hook of the song on the sax, is really strange (but awesome) sounding. Along with Butler's semi stream of consiousness sound lyrics, it's the early 80s brilliance that gets overlooked when people think the 80s was just bands like a-Ha or Dead Or Alive.
No Tears
, It Goes On
and All Of This And Nothing
are great ballad type songs. Ballad might not be the right term. But it shows a different side of the furs than straight ahead, driving songs like I Wanna Sleep With You
or Into You Like A Train
In fact, The Furs' first three albums are some of the best of the early 80s. The Psychedelic Furs
, Talk Talk Talk
and Forever Now
are all great. I did labor a bit trying to decide between The Psychedelic Furs
and Talk Talk Talk
for this list. I think their turning point was the song Heaven
from Mirror Moves. A lot of their material after that seemed to be trying to replicate that type of feel. I prefer the earlier version of the Furs. Which, notably was produced by Steve Lillywhite (produced their first 2 albums). He apparently had a big influence on their sound.
In summary, this album reminds me of what was so cool about the 80s (the early 80s, in particular) from a great band that wrote great songs, they were just fringe enough to have avoided super-stardom, yet whose songs stand the test of time and still sound great today.
Artist: Echo & The Bunnymen
Album Title: Crocodiles
Producer: Bill Drummond, David Balfe, Ian Broudie
Year: 1980
Time: 37:03
Weak Spot: Happy Death Men
Artist: New Order
Album Title: Power, Corruption & Lies
Producer: New Order
Year: 1983
Time: 42:35
Weak Spot: No Weak Spot
This album was my introduction to New Order (about a year before I first heard Joy Division), and they seemed SO WEIRD at first. And, really-they were, considering the prevailing model at the time. No pictures on their album sleeves. When you could manage to locate a picture of them, they looked so average. No exotic haircuts, flamboyant clothing,no make-up and no self aggrandizing videos. Which-at the time was outrageous in itself. It intrigued me. Surely a band that looked so average must feel so confident in their music that they don't need all the show (this was in my 16 year old mind, remember). I decided I needed to investigate.
The US version of Power, Corruption & Lies had Blue Monday
and The Beach
on it (at the end of sides 1 and 2, respectively). But in hindsight, I can see that they really don't fit on the album. Plus I like the model JD and NO employed often of releasing singles independent of albums. I listened to the album in the US format for many years, but not anymore.
Age Of Consent
is a great lead-off track, if ever there was one. I mistook the bass in a lot of the songs (on this album and others as well) as guitar for a long time. Peter Hook has such a unique style playing up high, and add to that sometimes playing a 5 or 6 string bass...and he can get pretty high up there. I love that manic, scratchy rhythm guitar part at 2:39. All in all, it's definitely a candidate for a signature New Order song.
5-8-6
is a classic-one of my faves on the album. I love how it starts out like something out of the Beverly Hills Cop score and then blends into a classic New Order tune.
It was also a New Order theme to give the songs titles that were not found in the song's lyrics (I found out later, this was a continuation of what they did in Joy Division). I thought that was great. It added to their alluring image.
I can't think of a single other band that blend such a techno sound with a real bass player and guitar player for such a unique sound. And this stuff still sounds great almost 35 years later. It has stood the test of time remarkably well. And for utilizing SO MUCH technology-I always thought that New Order did an amazing job getting their songs to emote so much.
Artist: Love And Rockets
Album Title: Seventh Dream Of Teenage Heaven
Producer: John A. Rivers, Love And Rockets
Year: 1985
Time: 42:30
Weak Spot: No Weak Spot
Artist: The Jesus And Mary Chain
Album Title: Psychocandy
Producer: The Jesus And Mary Chain
Year: 1985
Time: 38:55
Weak Spot:It's So Hard
When I was in High School in Newberg Oregon there was an AM station called KSLC broadcast
out of Linfield College in McMinnville Oregon that I could pick up at my house. I don't think it was intended to be heard outside of campus. The signal
was so weak you might not be able to hear it in a different part of the house And being AM made it that much harder to receive, and forget about listening
to it in the car...way too frustrating. Fortunately, I had westward facing bedroom, which I think aided in my reception. They had some great radio programs
put on by students that turned me on to all kinds of great music.
The Spring of 1986 was a real watershed of great material from KSLC. College radio was big in the 80s, remember (it's probably still around), in the
pre-internet age sources of content of any kind (especially outside the mainstream) were very hard to come by and could not be taken
lightly.
I remember first hearing Just Like Honey
on the flat AM airwaves of KSLC in early 1986. Right away, it sounded pretty special and I wanted to
know more about them, and hear more. It seems to me that I acquired their debut LP Psychocandy sometime later that Spring. The JAMC were so
cool! All dressed in black-shirt buttoned to the top, I decided to adopt my own version of the Jim/William Reid hairstyle immediately! I was crazy for
them for about the next year and Psychocandy was in heavy rotation in my '71 Bug. This album will forever remind me of that Sping of 1986.
But it's so much more than a nostalgia album too. I would take this album with me as one of my 20 Desert Island Albums. It sounds great today,
actually even better today than it did then with the benefit of hindsight showing us how influential Psychocandy was on the musical landscape of
the next 15 years.
Really, there's barely a weak song on the album. It's So Hard
sounds a little bit like filler to me. But aside from that, it's all great pop
music.
Taste Of Cindy
, You Trip Me Up
and Never Understand
are three of the finest pop songs to come out of the 80s. All of the
screeching and caterwauling aside-the Reids know how to write a pop hook. I would highly recommend checking out some of their John Peel Session
recordings of alternative and/or acoustic versions of Psychocandy songs from '84/'85-Taste
Of Cindy
is a perfect place to start.. You will see they are much more than a one trick pony.
In A Hole
and The Living End
are great nihilistic songs. I love hearing these when I'm riding-especially In A Hole
-great tempo
and aggressive energy.
They did some good stuff post-Psychocandy, but they never quite equalled the perfect storm of pop genius and sonic mayhem found here.
Artist: Marvin Gaye
Album Title: What's Going On
Producer: Marvin Gaye
Year: 1971
Time: 35:38
Weak Spot:Wholy Holy
Artist: Depeche Mode
Album Title: Black Celebration
Producer: Depeche Mode, Gareth Jones, Daniel Miller
Year: 1986
Time: 41:01
Weak Spot: Sometimes
I bought Black Celebration right when it was released in Spring of 1986. I was a Junior in High School. I thought Depeche Mode was pretty good prior, but Black Celebration pushed them into the upper echelon of alternative music (or New Wave
as we called it then), and in fact was the pinnacle of their discography-yes better than Music For the Masses, at least in this blogger's opinion.
Black Celebration
is one of the great opening tracks, of any album. It hilariously fits (and basically created) the stereotype of the mopey, black clad 80s teenager celebrating the end of another black day
! Maybe you had to be there to appreciate that sort of sentiment...? I was, and I love it.
The fade out and intoI look to you
How you carry on
When all hope is gone
Can't you see
Your optimistic eyes
Seem like paradise
To someone like Me
I want to take you
In my arms
Forgetting all I couldn't do today
~Black Celebration
Fly On The Windscreenadds a lot of flavor that I like. Something like Dark Side Of The Moon connecting all the songs together. It's worth noting, it's part of the album that could easily be lost or overlooked in the digital realm if played on shuffle.
Flyis a great song. That sampled breath in the intro is classic. The lyrics on this tune (and often throughout the album) are so self-indulgently dour I almost think it has to be (at least) partially tongue in cheek. It's right in line with The Cure's Pornography. Intent on hopelessness.
Stripped
is one of my favorite DM songs. The tense intro with the engine rhythm is great. The song just continues to climb throughout all the way through to the end where it tapers off, back to where it began. So many incidental sounds and textures going on in the track. It's techno music done right!
New Dress
is a peculiar, compelling, interesting and entertaining stab at political commentary that I always thought was out of character for DM, while at the same time fitting into the album nicely.
The songwriting and the instrumentation/orchestration on this album grew leaps and bounds over Some Great Reward. It was a giant leap towards the world domination they would achieve with their next album Music For the Masses, and cement their place in history as electronic music pioneers. Everything about this album from the cover, to the melodramatic material is like musical comfort food. It absolutely hits the spot.
Artist: The Cure
Album Title: Pornography
Producer: Phil Thornalley, The Cure
Year: 1982
Time: 43:29
Weak Spot:The Hanging Garden
There is not a single sexual reference or innuendo to be found anywhere on the album (which is probably a very good thing-I don't think anybody wants to hear Robert Smith sing about sex). It's eight songs of pure unadultered, unapologetic, nihilism.
Movement
No movement
Just a falling bird
Cold as it hits the bleeding ground
He lived and died
Catch sight
Cover me with earth
Draped in black
Static
White sound
A day without substance
A change of thought
An atmosphere that rots with time
Colors that flicker in water
A short term effect
~A Short Term Effect
Why would one enjoy listening to music that is this bleak? For me, I can't say that I like dark music just for the sake of it being dark.
This particular album reminds me of troubling times in my late teens coming of age, for all the good and bad that comes along with that. So, there's some nostalgia.
But what most attracts me (and keeps me coming back again and again) is the intensity. There's a quality here that Joy Division has also where the music is so dense that it feels like a storm baring down on me. The same feeling I get during a very heavy rainstorm, a lightning storm or thick fog. Where I am in the presence of something much larger than myself. The music is totally stifling (in a good way!).
It's not meant for just passive background listening. Songs like Cold
, Pornography
or One Hundred Years
are absolutely epic, relentlessy and ruthlessly oppressive and about as dark as music can get. Other tracks have a numb and droning emptiness like Siamese Twins
, The Figurehead
or A Strange Day
add some dimension to funereal party.
I've heard Robert Smith say in interviews that with Pornography he wanted to make an album that was totally unbearable. I love that. Probably not fun to live it, but for the sake of art, it's great. He's also said that during the tour for this album, they (The Cure) wore red lipstick around their eyes so when they started sweating under the stage lights, it would look like they were bleeding from their eyes. That's the kind of twisted sensibility I can really get behind.
My only real complaint on this album is the production. It's murky and muddy. Not saying it should be bright and shimmery-it wouldn't suit the material. But if Pornography had the production quality of Disintegration, this album would be an absolutely perfect 10 out of 10.